


Waiting for Me

by wandering_villains



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, How Do I Tag, Major Character Injury, Marvel Universe, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Battle of New York (Marvel), Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, eventually nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 21:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandering_villains/pseuds/wandering_villains
Summary: When Agent Morrigan Healy is requested to help translate the first Alien contact after the Battle of New York, she's swept into the middle of a 1,000 year battle for domination of the universe. With only her knowledge and wits to help her, she must uncover one of the best-kept secrets in the galaxy all while keeping her own past hidden and her family safe. Will looking death in the eye change her or will she suffer the fate of those who came before her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this story stuck in my head for a while. Finally decided to actually put it down and post it. It's my first fic and, I'll be the first to admit, a little self-indulgent. I also don't have a Beta so please let me know if there's anything glaring. I hope some of you enjoy it!

Fire.

 

The first thing she realized was that her world was on fire. The flames were fresh and just starting to consume the buildings. She stood in the center of a square, at the epicenter of the explosion. She was untouched unlike everything else in sight. She could feel the heat down to her bones. The smell filled her lungs and she let out a shuddering sigh. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Death filled the void around her. Shaking and swirling like the ash in the air. 

 

Time seemed to stand still. Morrigan stood in the center of her city’s square. Ash filled her mouth and lungs as she tried to steady her breathing. Her home was on fire. If she opened her eyes she could see the palace on the hill above the city. She didn't want to look at it though, half of it had been torn away. Fear started to creep up her back. She didn’t know how she got here.

 

She opened her eyes. Morrigan took a stumbling step forward, her breathing labored. She needed to find someone, anyone, to explain to her what happened. She looked all around and saw no one. In fact, despite the mayhem around her she only heard the soft sound of the flames consuming the buildings. There was no crying or screaming. Nothing.

 

From the corner of her eye, Morrigan saw a man dart in and out of an alley, as if he was checking to see if the coast was clear from whatever had destroyed her home. She turned and started towards the opening of the alley. 

 

“Wait, please. Please” she called out, her voice pleading and thick from the smoke. She fumbled her way to the entrance of the alley and looked for the man who disappeared. The alley was empty. No one was inside and there wasn’t anything large enough for a man to hide behind. Fear was winning the fight over control in her mind. 

 

_ ‘Where was he? Where’s anyone?’ _

 

Tears stung her eyes as panic filled her lungs. Morrigan’s breathing was coming in short gasps and her hands trembled at her sides. The reality before her didn’t make sense. With her mind grappling with what she was seeing, Morrigan fell to her knees. She covered her face, pressing against her eyes to try to stop the tears now flowing down her face. 

 

“Get a hold of yourself!” She chided, wiping her face with the back of her hands. She forced herself to stand, turning back to the town square. 

 

It wasn’t empty anymore. 

 

She was surrounded. 

 

It was still silent. 

 

Morrigan eyes went wide as she stared at the gathering before her. They weren’t human. She didn’t know what they were. The creatures looked like solid smoke trying to look human. Their arms tapered off to points with no hands and their legs were the same. They floated a few inches above the ground like reverse shadows standing before her. 

 

They lingered in the square and stared at her. Or at least she felt that they were staring, they didn't have eyes for her to tell. She felt one of the shadows tilt its head as it looked at her. Her body seized, the muscles all along her back pulling taut. It took one step towards her on uncertain feet. Slowly the shadow picked up the pace and began a jerky half run towards her. The other shadows, sensing the first begin, joined it in their halting run towards her. She was paralyzed. Her mind screamed at her to run but her body couldn't move. 

 

_ ‘I know who you are, _ ’ a whisper tore through in her mind.

 

The shadows started running, a dark wave barreling towards her. A stumbling silent mob that was swarming her. The first shadow was feet from her. She raised her arms to protect herself as the shadow barreled into her chest.

 

Morrigan woke with a start. She sat up in bed, covered in a cold sweat with her heart hammering at an unrelenting pace. The memory of the dream started to drain from her mind. The only thing she could remember was fire and fear. Tears pricked her eyes. Morrigan tried desperately to hold onto what she had seen. Something about it was familiar and yet nothing was. She took a shaky breath and covered her face with her hands. She pressed against her eyes with her palms and looked at the clock by her bed. 4:47. Great. Too late to go back to bed and early enough to be exhausted all day. Morrigan groaned as she fell back onto her pillow. Mondays already suck. This makes it worse. 

 

_ 'Might as well get up now and go in early' _ Morrigan reasoned with herself. She always did like the solitude of the early morning office. Besides, she had a meeting to present on her new advanced language class for her agents that she could prepare for.

 

The world slumbered on as Morrigan got ready. Night had not loosened its grip yet and with winter approaching the morning took longer and longer to come. Morrigan still felt the lingering anxiety of the nightmare. She felt suffocated by the darkness still outside. She yearned for the morning to break and provide some comfort in the sunlight. Something had shaken her from the dream. As if it was an awakening and a warning at the same time. 

 

Morrigan took her time getting ready. She showered leisurely and actually took the time to blow out her long hair. Morrigan meticulously applied her makeup and arranged her clothes for the day. Once she was satisfied with the results she went downstairs. 

 

Morrigan's home was small. A townhome with two stories, a decent kitchen, and a small study off the front door where she could meet with clients who needed a translator. She swept down the stairs and proceed to the kitchen. Coffee before anything else on this unplanned early morning.

 

With her warm thermos filled, she grabbed her bag and began her trip into work. It wasn't far, a five-minute walk to the train, a twenty-minute train ride and then a ten-minute walk to her office at the Academy. Most days she read on the train or worked on translation jobs on the side. Morrigan had been the lead instructor for the linguist division of Shield for the past five years. There wasn't a language she didn't know and had even spent time working with a field team deciphering a monolith with alien writing on it. 

 

By the end of her train ride, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Morrigan took her time walking in, no need to rush this early in the morning. She felt herself starting to relax for the first time since her abrupt start to the day. The sun making it feel like the darkness was never there to begin with. 

 

Morrigan made it to her office in record time. She passed her badge over the scanner and walked through the turnstiles into the building. Her office was just down the hall and up a flight of stairs. She dropped her bag and her coat and sat at her desk.

 

She set about starting her day. Before she knew it a few hours had passed and the office around her came to life. Being near the hustle and bustle of life in the office always made her feel energized, even if she was never directly involved. She was picky over who she shared her little spare time with and made it a rule to never be more than friendly with co-workers.

 

Morrigan jumped when she heard a knock on her office door. She looked up to see one of the undergraduates waiting patiently for her attention. 

 

"There are two agents here to see you, ma'am. The man says it's urgent." The girl said.  There was a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes, no doubt wondering what the urgent need was. 

 

"I'll be right down. Did you get his name and rank?" Morrigan asked as she grabbed her coat.

 

"No, ma'am. I work part-time in the front office. It seemed important so I came to you right away."

 

"Thank you, you're dismissed." Morrigan stood and walked around the girl and headed towards the front office. 

 

When she entered the office she saw there were two people waiting for her. A fairly average looking man and a smaller Asian woman. Morrigan approached the two and said, "Hello, I’m Morrigan Healy. I hear you’re looking for me."

 

"I'm Agent Coulson and this is Agent May," The man turned to her and extended a hand which Morrigan took. As he introduced the woman to his left she extending a hand and gave Morrigan a brief shake.  Agent Coulson continued,

 

"We're here because you come highly recommended. I take it you helped translate a Monolith with one of our field teams a few months back. We're hoping for your assistance today." 

 

Morrigan watched as Agent Coulson reached into a pocket and produced a small recording device. He turned the power on and hit the play button. A male voice drifted out of the machine. It was powerful but it was also soft and lilting at the same time. It sounded almost like he was singing. On impulse, Morrigan reached out and grabbed the device bringing it closer to her ear. 

 

"Now you that heard it. What do you make of it?" Coulson asked reaching out for the device

 

"Is he speaking Gaelic? Or is it Welsh? I can't really grasp the words," Morrigan asked as she handed the device back. 

 

"How would you approach translating this? Do you hear any words? Phrases?"

 

"I don’t... I- I don’t know."

 

"So what can you tell us?" Agent May snapped, her frown deepening. 

 

"Are you telling me you don't know this language?" Morrigan asked, bewildered. The two agents in front of her exchanged glances.

 

"Is... is this a transmission? Are we getting First Contact since New York?"

 

"In a way. Can you translate it?" Coulson asked. Morrigan looked at him, dumbstruck.

 

"I can tell you that it’s impossible to translate from an audio file. I would need to be there to interact with him."

 

"We thought you'd say that. Come with us."

 

The next thing she knew Morrigan was swept up into a flurry of activity. Her things were brought to her and she was loaded onto a quinjet with Agent Coulson and Agent May. A folder was pushed into her hands once she was strapped in. It was basically empty. The file contained minimal case notes and it looked like they were heading to Zephyr One. Once aboard they would journey to an undisclosed location. 

 

The trip to Zephyr One took no time at all. Morrigan was ushered off the quinjet and into a laboratory. Her excitement at seeing Zephyr One for the first time muted when she realized she would not be getting a full tour. She looked around the machines and computers and realized the lab was empty. She thought there'd be more people here considering that this was Earth's first non-hostile contact with an alien race. On the table in front of her, she found a pile of note cards and notepads. Taking them and grabbing a pen she started to write up basic ideas for tackling this challenge.

 

She heard intense arguing coming down the hall. Morrigan couldn't hear words but it sounded like a man and a woman and they were heading her way. The door opposite of her flew open and in walked the arguing couple. Morrigan noted that they looked young. There was no way they were older than she was so they had to be fresh out of the science academy. Morrigan also realized that they were in fact, arguing in English, but it was so complex that she had no idea what they were discussing. 

 

The woman noticed her first, clapping her hands together mimicking a prayer. With an audible gasp, she bounded forward with her hand outstretched. Morrigan took it while the woman enthusiastic spoke.

 

"You must be Dr. Healy! I'm Jemma Simmons and this is Leopold Fitz."

 

"Everyone just calls me Fitz. We're glad to have you here doctor," the man said as he stepped around his partner. He held out his hand and Morrigan shook it as well.

 

“Where are you at so far in translating? Does he seem cooperative?” Morrigan inquired now that introductions were out of the way.

 

The duo looked and each other for a moment before Fitz launched into the tests they’d run so far.

 

“From what we can tell there’s no base human language in it. He looks human enough so we are fairly confident that he doesn’t have an abnormal vocal structure from humans. In fact, besides the god awful noise he’s making, he seems human in almost every way. His expressions mimic human emotion almost perfectly. We can tell he’s not upset to be in his cell but actually seems amused by it all if you can believe that.”

 

Morrigan nodded and asked, “Have you tried teaching him our language?”

 

Jemma sighed, “We’ve been trying but when we speak with him the women seem to lose all focus and the gentlemen get angry with him. It’s strange. We’ve been trying to also understand how being in his presence changes our agent's behavior.”

 

Morrigan brought a hand up to rub her face, this was going to be much harder now that there seem to be cognitive issues when interacting with the alien. Taking a deep breath in Morrigan asked, “How have you been going about translating?”

 

“We’ve been bringing in objects and seeing if he recognizes them and trying to get him to name them. Fitz and I are science but not language experts, that’s why we put in the request to bring you in. You’ve translated, partially at least, a monolith. You’re Shield’s best shot at success.” Jemma said. It was clear that the stress of dealing with an unsuccessful first contact was bothering her. 

 

Morrigan sat down for a moment to think. She rubbed her eyes, thinking of how to bridge the gap with an alien who had no context of earth languages. Slowly an idea formed in her mind. Grabbing a whiteboard marker she started writing down her thoughts.

 

“So first, we need to make sure that he understands what a question is,” 

 

After writing ‘Why are you here?’ on the whiteboard she continues.

 

“So the question is 'Why are you here?' Okay, the nature of the question is a request for information. Then, we need to clarify the difference between a specific ‘you’ and a collective ‘you’, because we don’t want to know why Joe Alien is here, we want to know if there's more than just him.  

 

And purpose requires an understanding of intent. We need to find out: does he make conscious choices? Or is his motivation so instinctive that he doesn’t understand a “why” question at all? He might be responding with human reactions but this could just be a survival tactic. And, and biggest of all, we need to have enough vocabulary with him that we understand his answer.” 

 

Capping the marker and setting it down Morrigan turned to look back at the scientists. Fitz looking slightly irritated and Jemma wearing a smug smile. 

 

“Well if it was that easy why didn’t we think of it?” Fitz incredulously asked Jemma.

 

“That’s because she’s an expert in language and you are not. Come this way, we can take you to him now if you’d like. He’s actually on the ship. We’re not landing as a precaution in case his arrival leaks,” Jemma turns back toward the door she entered, motioning for Morrigan to follow. 

 

Morrigan snagged her notepad and pen as she followed Jemma out the door and into a hall of the ship. Fitz walked beside her. The three chatted about nothing on the way there. 

 

With each step, Morrigan's nerves got a little more pronounced. She knew they said he looked and acted human but what if he didn’t. What if she couldn’t translate his language or worse, what if he was a bad guy? Her stomach clenched at the thought. She never was a fighter despite her upbringing to be one. That’s why she got into the language arts. She could diffuse almost any situation before conflict happened by always knowing the right words to say.

 

The arrived before she was ready. Two men stood in front of the door to what Morrigan assumed was the alien’s holding cell. One of the two was in traditional SWAT gear and the other was just in a black t-shirt and jeans. The man in the jeans watched them approach. 

 

Addressing Jemma he asked, “This your expert?” His tone reminded Morrigan of the guys she met who were in the Cadet Track at the Academy. He looked her over, a frown on his face, a few inches from a scowl. 

 

“Yes, this is Doctor Morrigan Healy. She’ll be leading our interactions with our... guest.” Jemma seemed to hesitate on saying ‘guest’. It looked like they didn’t know what to call the alien either. 

 

“Dr. Healy this is Grant Ward. He’ll be leading security for you.” 

 

Jemma turned her body slightly as she introduced Morrigan. Morrigan stepped forward and held out her hand. Agent Ward looked at it for a second longer than polite before taking it. His hand was noticeably cold and something in his behavior rang alarm bells for Morrigan. She would be happy to have as few encounters with him as she could.

 

“I take it you’ll be wanting to speak with our guest?” Agent Ward asked, earning a nod from Morrigan. 

 

“Okay, there are some safety measures you need to follow. Break any of these and I’ll pull you out myself. First, don’t touch him. Second, no food or drinks. Third, you will be decontaminated going in and decontaminated going out. Finally, you only have one hour and I’m pulling you out. Any questions?”

 

“None, sir.” 

 

“In that case, follow me,” Agent Ward turned and opened the door behind him. It led to a small room with a large glass window. There was a door to the side that opened to a small antechamber that led into the holding area for the alien. 

 

“Is this one-way glass?” Morrigan asked as she entered the room. She looked at Agent Ward who nodded in affirmation. She walked to the glass and was wholly unprepared for what she saw.

 

He was handsome. More than handsome, he was devastating in his looks. Morrigan watched as he spun a paper cup on the desk. Boredom clear in his posture and expression. His hair was red and swept back. He wore a skin-tight suit in a red and white pattern. As if he could tell she was there, the alien looked up and at the glass just as Morrigan reached the threshold. She watched as he flashed an easy smile and leaned back into the chair. He turned away from the glass and looked towards the door, waiting for someone to enter.

 

“Am I free to go in?” 

 

“Yes, decontamination takes about 30 seconds,” Jemma answered. 

 

“Don’t breathe in too deeply though,” Fitz muttered under his breath. 

 

Morrigan slowly approached the door, her fingertips brushing the handle. She hesitated. Fear coiled in her stomach, anxiety shunted her breathing. She closed her eyes thinking positive thoughts. An internal mantra built up saying,  _ ‘You can do this. You’ve trained most of your life for this. You are the best at what you do. This is your time now. _ ’

 

With a deep breath, Morrigan pushed open the door to the antechamber. The door closing with a solid noise behind her. 

 

The decontamination process was horrible. Morrigan didn't know what was in the mist they coated her in but it smelled like fake sugar cookies mixed with Lysol. Finally, the door to the holding room opened up and Morrigan nearly ran out of the decontamination room.

 

The door opened easily and Morrigan had to stop it from slamming into the wall. With as much grace as she could muster, she politely closed the door and turned to face her new student. 

 

“You?" The word fell out of his mouth surprising them both. Morrigan stood wide-eyed as she processed the English word that he said. Recognition flashed in his eyes for a moment but as soon as it was there it was gone. For a split second the man's face had gone completely slack.

 

In an instant, the man's easy smile from before returned. Morrigan couldn't help but join him in the tranquil feeling she had now. Why was she so anxious in the first place? Judging by his behavior he seemed like a fine person.

 

"I take it they told you I was coming. My name is Morrigan. I'm here to talk with you for a little today," Morgan responded as she sat down. She was relaxed in the chair and watched as the man's eyes looked at her blankly. It was clear he didn’t understand a word she said.

 

"Do you know what I'm saying right now?" Morrigan's question was answered with a dazzling smile. The man tilted his head to one side, while he leaned back again in his chair. 

 

Morrigan brought a hand to her chest saying "Morrigan," she tapped against her chest and added, "Human,"

 

The man across from her mimicked the same hand motion, touching his chest in time with Morrigan's motions. Morrigan beamed, nodding at his imitation.

 

"Morrigan," she repeated, laying her hand flat on her chest. The man looked down at his hand, back to Morrigan's face before responding. 

 

He pointed at her and said "Morrigan," he pressed his hand to his own chest, "Eros,"  

 

Morrigan's smile widened. How had she been so concerned? The man across from her seemed so intelligent. At her smile, Eros flashed another one of his own, a bright dazzling smile that caused Morrigan to flush. 

 

Their first meeting was basic. In fact, it was so basic she didn’t learn more than his name. Her allotted hour finished before any progress was made. A banging on the door alerted her that time was up. She tried gesturing to Eros that she would return and gave him a quick goodbye, leaving some of her items behind.

 

Decontamination was just as horrible the second time. After exiting the antechamber she was met with what she assumed was the whole team. Coulson was at the center and he looked intense as Morrigan entered the room.

 

“I see you at least got a name. How did it go? How do you feel?”

 

“I did get a name and I feel fine. I think it went as well as a first encounter could considering I only had an hour. You’ll have to give me more time for this to work.”

 

Coulson nodded and turned to Jemma and Fitz. 

 

“Where are you at on a possible outbreak? Should we still be worried about an outbreak?”

 

“Considering what little we know it’s hard to say. I don’t think there’s a risk in extending the time slowly and monitoring reactions. We still don’t know if the feelings people get are a chemical or some other type of defense system.” Jemma answered. Coulson nodded again and added,

 

“We’ll start extending the time in 15-minute increments. Should FitzSimmons think something is wrong we’ll go back to square one. I want this done right so no skipping steps. Understood?”

 

The group gave their affirmative and Morrigan was swept away by the science duo to strategize the next session with Eros. Morrigan watched him as the group pulled her away and she could have sworn he gave her a slight wave as she left out of sight. 

 

With the help of FitzSimmons, Morrigan launched into her work. She used flash cards and images to help Eros learn English and in turn, Eros taught her the words of his strange language. It was exhilarating for Morrigan to work through the process of understanding this new language. With each step forward she found herself leaning into him, intoxicated by the challenge. Intoxicated by him. She felt a connection driving her to find out as much about him as she could. 

 

As weeks passed, Morrigan continued with her English lessons. Eros learned faster than any other student she'd taught before. Within two weeks he was forming his own basic sentences. From his small vocabulary, Morrigan was able to figure out more about him. Eros was a refugee, traveling from planet to planet before he came to Earth. Upon landing something had broken on his ship, this resulted in him wandering to the closest city in search of repair items. Unfortunately, he happened upon a small town where his presence was immediately reported which explained how he ended up in Shield's custody. 

 

In their time together Morrigan learned as much of his language as she could. There was a musicality to it that she loved. Morrigan though that this is how all language should be, flowing and free with the additional melody to it to further intensify its meaning. It sounded almost like a song when spoken fluently. She hadn't had a new language that challenged her in years and the complexity of Eros' native language was intoxicating in its excitement.

 

She and Eros were together on most days. The decontamination process eventually stopped once they were certain no virus or plague would infect the crew. It became an easy relationship between student and mentor, the roles reversing depending on who was learning. Morrigan would spend her days and most of her evenings with Eros. They built a comfortable companionship together and Morrigan felt a joy that she hadn’t had in ages.

 

Before she knew it nearly a month had passed. Eros continued to develop at an amazing level. He had reached milestones that most people wouldn’t reach without months or years of work. 

 

With the fear of an outbreak lifted Eros joined the crew for meals though he still spent most of his time in his small chamber. He didn’t seem to mind the constant attention. In fact, Morrigan had to guess that on some level, he enjoyed it.

 

Afternoon sessions became her favorite time. Morrigan usually reserved the mornings for grammar and syntax but afternoons she kept free to just talk. Encouraging Eros to learn the functionality of the language, not just its rules. The sessions were normal. They joked and laughed. Eros tried to teach Morrigan a small nursery rhyme from his homeworld. As an afternoon session was ending, Morrigan went to clean up her supply of markers and worksheets so they could walk to dinner together. She started collecting her things when Eros' hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist.

 

The usual warmth she had with him melted at the contact. Morrigan, panicked, pulled on her wrist to get loose. It was useless, she looked at his eyes and was frozen in place from the look Eros was giving her. It felt as though her whole body was paralyzed from fright.

 

His gaze was cold, piercing and appraising. He looked completely different from the man he was a moment ago. He looked at her like he had found a particularly unappealing bug in his garden. He held her gaze for a moment longer and, just as suddenly as it happened, he let go. He sat back in his chair and smiled at Morrigan again.

 

Morrigan reeled back, holding her wrist against her chest. She knew she needed to get out of there... But did she really need to leave? That had to have been her imagination playing tricks. Eros had been nothing but hesitant and gentle in all of his interactions so far. She had to have made up him grabbing her. It had to have been her imagination fueled by being gone from home for so long. Morrigan gave Eros a reassuring smile and picked up the last of her things. 

 

"You ready?"

 

Eros looked at her and smiled genially. He stood and opened the door, holding it so she could pass through. 

 

Two days passed when Coulson called her into his meeting room on the Zephyr One. 

 

"They need you back at the Academy," Coulson informed her once they were both seated. Morrigan stiffened, she was not ready to leave Eros in the hands of some unknown agent.

 

"You can't send me back now. I am the only one he trusts and there's still so much that he needs to develop. You're going to stick your best linguist in a classroom while-"

 

Holding a hand up, Coulson cut her off.

"You don't think I'm aware? This order came from the top down and we're all supposed to be team players. I was told to send you back and I tried fighting it myself. I even offered to bring you onto my team but it didn't fly. They say you can't leave your classes for this long. There's a possibility of returning if a replacement is found or once the semester has ended."

 

Morrigan opened her mouth to argue further when Coulson added "This isn't a discussion. We're landing in thirty, a car will take you home from the office."

 

Morrigan knew when orders were orders. She stood, shook Coulson's hand and left for her temporary lodging to pack. She didn't have much so clearing her cabin of belongings took much less time than she thought. Sitting on her bed Morrigan reviewed the notes she had taken. 

 

To say she was disappointed was an understatement. She hardly knew more than an infant would of Eros' vocabulary. She didn't even know what the language looked like in writing. They'd barely scratched the surface of what could be learned. Morrigan threw herself back on the bunk, frustration tensing her shoulders. She tried relaxing them but couldn't seem to stay calm enough for that yet. A soft tapping from her door broke her train of thought.

 

"Who is it?" she called out miserably from her bunk. 

 

"Eros." 

 

Bolting upright Morrigan launched herself at the door. Throwing it open she saw Eros leaning casually on the door frame. The same comfortable feeling filled her again at seeing him. 

 

"I didn't think I'd get a chance to say goodbye! They're sending me home now," she sighed, stepping up to where he was in the doorway.

 

Eros smiled as he spoke, "I wanted to say thank you.  You've been working so hard on learning my language and teaching me yours.”

 

Eros reached out and grabbed Morrigan’s hand. He bowed slightly and lightly kissed the top of each hand. Morrigan felt the blush rush from her chest up and over her face. Her hands clutched his as he stood back up. Eros blessed her with another dazzling smile. Morrigan felt her mind go soft, her skin tingling. She wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up in him for the rest of her life.

 

“You shine too bright for men to gaze upon and I thank you for the opportunity to covet you from the shade you cast. I don’t know if I will see you again but I will treasure the moments you have given me.” 

 

Eros’ voice was like honey over velvet and Morrigan felt herself leaning into him as he spoke. He looked at her as she pressed against his chest, a smirk wide on his face. He squeezed her hands briefly, turned and walked down the hall out of sight. 

 

Morrigan stood in the doorframe, hands still up from where Eros let go. Something was trying to click together as her mind solidified after being thoroughly turned to mush. That was one hell of a goodbye. She looked down the hall, hoping he would return.

 

“Dr. Healy? We’re ready for you.”

 

Coulson’s voice broke the spell in the air and Morrigan mentally shook herself. She had behaved rashly and needed to pull herself together. 

 

“Thank you, Coulson, let me grab my things.” 

 

Dashing back into the room Morrigan grabbed her bag and followed Coulson down the hall to the quinjet. The flight was uneventful. Morrigan worked on her briefing notes and her file for submission. The anger at being told to leave had burned itself out. She was resigned to the fact that she would be back at her desk and some upper-level agent would pick up where she left off. She mostly felt sad. She could have taught Eros so much more and, in turn, learned more of his language as well. He had so much potential left.

 

A few hours later Morrigan was home. It seemed like everything that happened on Zephyr One was from another life. Morrigan started slowly putting her things away when her flash card fluttered out of her bag and onto the floor. She reached for it, smiling as she remembered her last lesson. She had wanted to start reading books together since Eros had made such progress. He was at least at a middle school level for comprehension. Morrigan paused. Realization strucking her out of nowhere. She felt like someone had poured ice all over her. She thought back to her goodbye with Eros. The way he spoke to her, the things he said. She had never taught him that.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than before but I wanted to update. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am finally putting this story down. <3

Morrigan had never been the sort to say that she wanted excitement in her life. Things were fine the way they were. She had no desire to be at the center of what was happening or to be the big player in the room. Her siblings were a part of that and made it clear that she wouldn’t be welcome. Every family has their differences and when the opportunity came Morrigan left home and that life when she was 14. She wanted to be normal. To live a life of service, speaking for those who didn’t have a voice of their own.

All of the excitement working with Eros changed something in her. She felt-- needed. That her actions had consequence. She felt influential. She’d never planned on being so directly involved in a project that had such high stakes. It was like the first hit of a drug so powerful she knew she would be searching for the next high, even though her situation would prevent her from being in the room where things happen.

These thoughts were like a weight tied to her heart. Thoughts swirled in Morrigan’s head, threatening to drown her as she walked into her house. The car from Shield had dropped her off and didn’t even wait for her to get inside. 

For a moment she was someone and now it was back to fading into the background. Just another agent teaching at the academy. This is the life she chose and she would need to accept that and be proud of the little she’d done.

Morrigan pushed her way through the front door and set her things down in the entry. The darkness of the house loomed before her and the stale smell of an unlived-in home clung to the air. With a heavy sigh, Morrigan started to bring her luggage upstairs to begin the process of unpacking. Her practical nature told her to start unpacking as soon as she set her bag down. 

_‘Start putting things away, you know you feel better after you clean,’_ The voice in her head urged her. However, the weight of her feelings was so much that she felt rooted to the floor. All Morrigan wanted to to do was sink down and sleep. She looked at the watch on her wrist and sighed. It was late, well past ten o’clock. 

_‘Put things away in the morning, you’ll have all weekend to be productive. Be sad for now,’_ a second voice cooed. Morrigan eyed her bed. The bed she’d missed for weeks. 

A little rest wont hurt, she thought as she lied down on the bed. Just rest for thirty minutes then you can be responsible. Morrigan closed her eyes and stretched, ready to rest and be ready for work come Monday.  
_________________________________________________________________

The hallway in front of her was dark. Morrigan couldn’t quite remember how she got there and definitely didn’t know where she was going. She looked behind her and saw the hallway stretching out behind her the same way it stretched out before her. A look to the right and the left confirmed that there weren’t any doors. Just more of the dark grey industrial walls around her. With nothing else to do Morrigan started walking forward again. 

The hallway seemed to go one for forever but Morrigan never felt tired or worried. In fact, it felt comfortable and easy being there. She continued walking, for how long she couldn’t say. 

Finally, Morrigan saw an end to the hallway. She quickened her steps to reach the T intersection and looked around again. To her left was a door with no light coming out from inside and to her right was an archway that had light at the end. Deciding to go with the option with more light Morrigan turned down the archway and found herself in a large open room.

The room was massive. The ceiling was high, easily three or four stories up and a half a football field wide. The path in front of Morrigan narrowed to a walkway surrounded by water. As she walked further in she noticed that the water wasn’t making any noise, despite it moving around in the pools. The silence wasn’t oppressive. Morrigan actually found comfort in how still the room felt. Taking her eyes away from the water and the expansive ceiling Morrigan continued to look around the room.

Right in the center of the water, in the center of the room, was a throne. How she had missed it when she first entered she wasn’t sure. It was a dominating feature in the space. Large, angular and set upon a flight of stairs it was clearly meant for someone of prestige. Morrigan felt a pull to get closer. Her feet carried her to the foot of the stairs. The throne was enormous. Morrigan felt dwarfed by its size. 

_‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’_ Morrigan mused to herself as she ascended the stairs. She reached with her hand and let her fingertips brush the arm of the throne. It was a rough-hewn stone and it was fridged. Morrigan couldn’t fathom who would want a throne are imposing and cold as this one. 

Loud, echoing footsteps entered the room behind Morrigan. With her heart jackhammering in her throat, Morrigan spun quickly on her heel to see who was coming into the chamber. The footsteps stopped as soon as she turned.

Despite hearing the footsteps of someone approaching there was no one in the room with her. She scoured the room looking for the person who entered. Whoever it was had to have been massive to create the sound Morrigan heard. She frantically looked all around but there was no one there and no place for anyone to hide.

“I know you’re in here. There isn’t any use hiding from me,”

A baritone voice boomed from a few feet away and down the platform from Morrigan. She clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle her yelp. From the sound of the voice, Morrigan could see a hazy shape of a man, though it was easily the largest person she’d ever encountered. 

_‘I’m plane walking!'_ The realization struck Morrigan with panic. She wasn’t supposed to plane walk, her magic was supposed to be repressed. She needed to leave. Now.

Ducking to the side of the throne Morrigan inhaled as quietly as she could. Squeezing her eyes shut she reached out with her consciousness to find her tether; her lifeline to find her way back home. She found it quickly and started pulling herself back. From what she remembered it took about ten seconds to fully leave the dimension. 

The footsteps moved closer.

**Ten.**

They started up the stairs.

**Nine.**

Morrigan stopped breathing.

**Eight.**

The figure stood right in front of her.

**Seven.**

She could feel him looking around for her

**Six.**

The figure in front of her knelt down. Morrigan stifled a sob.

**Five.**

“Why are you hiding little one?”

**Four.**

The man reached out his hand.

**Three.**

His hand was inches from her face.

**Two.**

His fingers brushed her chin.

_**One.** _

His massive hand cupped her face as Morrigan felt her astral body being flung back home.

Morrigan gasped and hurtled herself out of bed, barreling towards the bathroom. Racing in she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing as she tried to keep down the bile creeping up her throat. Pure panic filled her as she processed the magnitude of what she’d unconsciously done. 

Magic was denied to her. She had to keep herself under control or risk exposing her family. As the shakes started to pass, she knelt up to the counter and reached for her medicine. She looked at her packet and staring right back at her was her nightly dose. She’d forgotten to take it. She looked hard at herself in the mirror. She looked as awful as she felt.

Her hazel eyes were bloodshot and swollen, making her pallor skin look even more deathlike than normal. Her dark hair crushed on one side where she had been sleeping. Standing up Morrigan rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. She sighed into her hands and turned the faucet on, splashing water onto her already tear stained face. 

Maybe this was all a terrible dream. 

Looking at herself again and seeing the exhaustion written all over it she knew it wasn’t a nightmare, it was real. 

Morrigan popped the small white pill into her mouth and dry swallowed it. It wouldn’t reverse what happened but it would prevent another accident. She couldn’t afford another slip. She needed to alert her family.

Morrigan willed herself to move and shuffled back to her bedroom. She grabbed the phone on her nightstand and looked at her notifications. Four texts and five missed calls, most of them from her grandmother, Evelyn.

**TEXT FROM GRAM AT 11:47 PM:** 'Sweetheart are you alright? We just got a ping on our radar'

**MISSED CALL FROM GRAM 11:48 PM**

**MISSED CALL FROM GRAM 11:50 PM**

**MISSED CALL FROM GRAM 11:52 PM**

**TEXT FROM GRAM AT 11:54 PM:** 'Honey? Please answer my calls, Misha'

**MISSED CALL FROM GRAM 11:55 PM**

**TEXT FROM GRAM AT 11:58 PM:** 'Honey, it’s going to be okay. You need to get back to me though.'

**MISSED CALL FROM LIZ 11:59 PM**

**TEXT FROM LIZ AT 11:59 PM:** 'Morrigan, you must respond to your contact or we will be forced to send a unit to you. Please advise by 12:05 AM'

Morrigan wiped her tears from her face and responded to Liz first.

**TEXT TO LIZ:** 'Situation managed. Do not respond. Do not risk another ping on radar. Calling contact now.'

Immediately after pressing send Morrigan called her grandmother back. The phone didn’t even ring before Evelyn answered.

“Honey is that you?”

“Hi Gram,” Morrigan’s voice broke as she answered, “Yeah it’s me. I’m okay. I’m just so sorry,” 

Morrigan hiccuped and started gulping breaths trying to stay calm but hearing her grandmother sounding so concerned was breaking her.

“Oh Misha, it is okay. Take a deep breath in for me and I want you to hold it. Listen to me, okay?”

“Gram everyone is in danger, I-” Morrigan was cut off by her grandmother's tutting.

“The first thing I want to tell you is that whatever you did was very small. We hardly registered it which is why I called and texted rather than have the whole army come get you.” Morrigan nodded in silence as tears streamed down her face. 

“Second is that I love you and I know you would not do anything to hurt the family or your people. So, take another breath and tell me what happened,”

Morrigan sat on the floor with her back against the bed and tucked her head onto her knees. She felt exhausted.

“I,” Morrigan paused, forcing herself to calm down, “I plane walked Gram,” She took a deep breath and continued. 

“I don’t know where I went. It was huge, maybe dimensional giants? I don’t know, gods... and it was mostly empty. It wasn’t a strong projection, I couldn’t be seen but I guess you could hear me. There was someone there. He heard me and tried to find me. He has to know magic as well, he was in shadow the whole time. Gram. He touched me. I didn’t think you could do that when plane walking,”

“He touched you?” 

“Yeah, on my cheek. I was hiding and he crouched in front of me and he touched my cheek,”

Silence. 

“Gram?”

“It’s okay Misha,” Evelyn murmured, “I do not know what or who this was but from all of our analysis we do not think it created much more of a ripple than a drop of water. The Sorcerer did not notice and waved us off when we alerted them,”

“For now, rest. The Conclave will want a report sometime tomorrow. Rest and in the morning we will start looking into what happened. Okay, Misha?”

“Yeah Gram, okay.”

“Is breá liom tú.”

“I love you too. Night”

Morrigan hung up the phone and threw her head back against the bed. Sleep was not going to come as easily as her grandmother clearly thought it would. The bright red of her bedside clock mocked her with its early hour. Morrigan plugged her phone back in and wandered downstairs. 

She hadn’t had an episode in over a decade. She’d always been so precise in her medication timing. Why did she forget now? She chastised herself all the way to the kitchen. She busied herself with making a cup of sleepy time tea. Hoping that repeating her nightly ritual would help her sleep.

She fixed up her tea just so, a tiny drop of honey and a splash of cream, and settled into the couch. She turned on her TV in the hope of finding something that would let her fall asleep. She settled with a period drama about a noble family in England. They had such frivolous issues and the show had an overall positive feeling. Morrigan pulled a blanket over herself and forced her body to relax. 

She didn’t pay much attention to the show but it was enough of a distraction to quiet the chaos in her mind. Gradually she felt her heartbeat slow, her shoulders fell and her back relaxed. She unconsciously wiggled deeper into the covers and felt her eyes start to get heavy after a few episodes had finished. 

Morrigan drifted to a near doze, the television noise just a soft part of the background. Curled on the couch, Morrigan turned her head to fall asleep. Through sleepy eyes, she looked across her living room and right at the hazy shape of an enormous man in her kitchen.

Bolting upright, Morrigan threw her teacup at the figure. As the cup shattered upon impact, she bolted for the front door where her work bag, and handgun, were located. She flipped on the light, unholstering the concealed weapon, aiming at the figure in her kitchen. Adrenaline rushed through her system again as her eyes sought her target.

Her kitchen was empty.

Keeping her gun at the ready Morrigan sidestepped into her kitchen. It really was empty. A creature of that size couldn’t have moved that quickly or become that small in the seconds after she saw it. Her teacup was in pieces all over the floor. Morrigan, keeping her weapon ready, started searching her house. 

Starting with a sweep of her patio backyard Morrigan combed through her house. She meticulously checked each corner of her home. Adrenaline fueling her steps and fear curdling her stomach. She cleared the downstairs and continued her search upstairs. She eased up her stairs, knowing full well that one wrong step would cause the stairs to creak. Her guest bedroom was empty, as was her bathroom. She slowly eased her bedroom door open, this was the last room to clear. She crept in, gun at the ready. Her eyes swept the room. She quickly checked her blind corners and kept her back to the wall. Opening the closet, she quickly assessed that no one was in there either. 

Morrigan shuttered out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Her arm relaxed and she held her gun to her side. There was no one in her house. She must have had a nightmare from the stress of the evening. Taking her left hand she rubbed her eyes and moved to sit on the bed. She groaned at the exhaustion that was left after the adrenaline had faded. Glancing at the clock she realized it was the early hours of the morning and that she probably wouldn’t get any sleep.

As her eyes moved from the clock she noticed something was on her pillow. Reaching for the light Morrigan refused to look away from the foreign object, praying it was something she forgot she left. Flipping the switch on the lamp on her bedside table, light illuminated the room.

Sitting on her pillow was a lone flower. Morrigan had never seen anything like it. It resembled a peony, except it was huge. The bloom alone was nearly the size of her head. The color was a deep oxblood red with veins of black running through the petals, the stem a light lavender. It was beautiful. It was horrifying. 

Morrigan stood at the edge of the bed, ice running through her veins. She fumbled for her phone on the bedside table. Without taking her eyes off the flower she dialed her phone. Bringing the device to her ear she prayed the call would be answered. She heard the click of the line being opened.

“Gram? Can I stay with you for the weekend?”


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone following my story, I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update. Work has been crazy and I've been out of the country for a few weeks. I'm hoping to get into a regular schedule of posting every two to three weeks. Thank you to anyone who reads this! <3

“The Conclave does not concern itself with some nightmare from a Dezrati.” 

Morrigan flinched at the name. Her cousin, Sabina was just wrapping up a verbal beating and seemed to have no intention of pulling any punches. Morrigan may have left home but she was not a deserter to her family. A Dezrati was someone who abandoned the Akari, her people, usually in a vengeful or spiteful manner. 

“The fact that we even held Council with you is the minimum required. Your _‘episode’_ was hardly consequential but regulation dictates we speak with you.”

Morrigan bristled. She knew what she experienced was real. At her side, her grandmother gently squeezed her hand that she was holding. Evelyn was one of the strongest magic users Morrigan knew, that strength was showcased now as she was projecting both of them for the Conclave. The squeeze was a reminder of her place.

Council meetings were held with astral projections of those who could not be at the Akari capital, Ocardoch. Six of the fifteen Conclave members were present at the Council, the others hadn’t shown up. They didn’t even have a quorum. 

_‘They really think I’m making this up.’_ The flower Morrigan had found withered faster than any flower she’d seen on Earth. It was basically dust in a few hours and had shrunk so much that it looked like a normal peony at this point, albeit a dried out one. She and her grandmother decided it was best not to bring it up because of its decay. Morrigan was now wondering if that was the smartest choice.

“I don’t know why you are so harsh with her Sabina. I believe she truly saw something.” The voice startled Morrigan. It was a voice she hadn’t heard in years. It was the voice of Evie, her twin sister. She was not originally in the Council and must have recently arrived. 

Her projection appeared in front of Morrigan as if she were walking into a spotlight. She was everything Morrigan wasn’t. She shone like a light in the darkness, her bright green eyes always dancing with hidden laughter while Morrigan’s hazel eyes always seemed muddied and solemn. Her shining blonde hair always in a glamorous wave and everything about her screamed fashion. Morrigan worked hard to blend in as much as possible and counted it a miracle if her hair was anything more than straight and plastered to her head. Evie's skin was always glowing and sun-kissed. She always looked so much more alive than Morrigan and with her powers it made sense.

Evie was Life. More than just the life of the party, she was her people’s embodiment of Life and the Soul of the Akari. Morrigan remembered the looks on her parents' faces when Evie started showing her powers. They were so… proud. A look Morrigan didn’t get as often as her sister. 

To know Evie was to love her, even for Morrigan. She loved her sister more than anything in her life. Seeing her after years apart was like walking into unexpected sunshine. The situation seemed brighter with Evie in it.

“Hi Evie,” Morrigan stared at her sister’s image. “It’s been a minute,”

Evie smiled gently at Morrigan before addressing the Council again. 

“We all know my sister’s sacrifice for our people. She’s removed herself from our community for the protection and safety of all. She’s agreed to cut herself off from the magic in all of us, a sacrifice you know nothing about.” 

Morrigan dropped her head at her sister’s words. She had not expected support from her, not at this level.

“Morrigan is trustworthy. What I want to know is how this happened in the first place. For over a decade Morrigan has been religious about the medication to control her magic. After many years, a single missed dose shouldn’t have caused this. Judging by the size of the magic used Morrigan didn’t travel far. The reality is she either was welcomed and pulled to the location or some Terran is having very odd dreams. Either of which should give the Conclave pause,”

Evie looked around to each of the six Conclave members in attendance. A few looked away and some even had the grace to look embarrassed. Sabina crossed her arms and maintained eye contact until Evie looked away. Turning to Morrigan at last, Evie continued.

“My sister, please continue to do what you have been all these years. The Conclave will continue to monitor for abnormalities. Keep yourself out of trouble?”

“Always.” 

“Good, then I think we can end this Council meeting.”

“Who made you Empress Evie?” Sabina whispered so softly Morrigan was surprised she heard her. Evie herself didn’t notice, or if she did she made no acknowledgment of it. Evie raised her hand to her heart and bowed out of the meeting, her astral projection fading from view. The remaining Conclave members followed behind until Morrigan was alone with her grandmother again.

Releasing Morrigan’s hand with a grunt, Evelyn plopped down onto a sitting chair in her living room. 

Morrigan had arrived at her grandmother's home in the early hours of Saturday morning and had been there since. Morrigan always loved her grandmother’s house. It felt like home. The furniture was cozy and picture frames lined all of the walls. They were all pictures of her family or landscapes from Ocardoch. A small groan escaped Evelyn as she stretched her legs out in front of her. 

“It becomes harder and harder to use the magic every day,” she grumbled, hands folding on her lap. Morrigan looked at her grandmother and saw the age on her face. She was getting tired.

“I’ll make some tea Gram,” Morrigan touched her grandmother’s shoulder as she passed by on her way to the kitchen. She brought the kettle to boil and made up two cups. It was Sunday, she needed to return to work and her own home tomorrow. A thought she had avoided all weekend. 

Rationally, Morrigan knew that the vision in her home was just a nightmare. She’d accepted that her runaway imagination as playing a cruel trick on her. The flower though… that she couldn’t explain away but even with the small amount of time that passed it was harder for Morrigan to accept what she saw.

It’s no wonder the Conclave thought she was lying. There really wasn’t an explanation for what happened and even less of a reason for a group as powerful as them to be worried. Morrigan tried again to release the worry and anxiety, working on her breathing while the tea steeped.

Once the cups were prepared, cream for her and honey for her grandmother, Morrigan returned to the living room. She set a cup in front of her grandmother and sat in the chair opposite her. The pair sipped in silence. The earlier meeting consuming both of their thoughts.

“Are you going home tonight?” Evelyn asked, quirking an eyebrow at her granddaughter. 

“I need to. I go back to the office tomorrow and I don’t want an hour and a half commute,” Morrigan grimaced. She didn’t want to be alone but with the Conclave decision to just monitor the situation she needed to move on with her life.

Morrigan and her grandmother talked more about the meeting, the dream and everything in between. It had been their main topic of conversation all weekend. Eventually, the afternoon started to move towards evening and Morrigan knew it was time to leave. Stretching as she stood, Morrigan groaned as she set about collecting her things from her unexpected weekend visit. Once everything was gathered, Evelyn walked her outside. 

The Akari were not people who prolonged goodbyes. When she left her home at fourteen she only had minutes to say goodbye to her entire race. 

Leaving her grandmother’s home after a weekend trip would warrant nothing more than a few words. Morrigan turned with her bag in her hands and trouble in her heart. Something told her that this might be the last time she saw both the house and her grandmother. She could hear her grandmother chiding her already.

_‘Stop wasting time on tears, Misha!’_ she would say, hands wiping tears and little pushes towards the car. So instead of the goodbye worth the emotions building in her heart, Morrigan hugged her grandmother tightly, murmured a goodbye, got into the car and pulled out of the driveway.  
______________________________________________________________

After a quick drive, Morrigan looked up at her home. It was dark outside and inside. She knew she needed to go in but fear rooted her to the ground. How long she stood outside of her own house Morrigan couldn’t say. Eventually, she summoned enough courage to open the front door. 

Everything was how she had left it. The couch still had a rumpled blanket, the teacup was still shattered on the floor and her bags from her work trip with Eros were still laying on the floor. With a heavy sigh, Morrigan started the process of putting things back in place.

Once the house was back in order Morrigan climbed into her comfy clothes and slid into bed. She was ready to sleep in her own bed again and she knew this first night would be the hardest. She had triple checked that she had taken her medication and took a sleeping medicine just in case. Grabbing a stack of papers on her bedside table Morrigan graded a few essays from her students while she waited for the sleep aid to work. Slowly her eyes became heavy and she let herself slip into a quiet, dreamless sleep.  
_______________________________________________________________

Morrigan awoke the next morning feeling more like herself than she’d felt for the past few days. Things finally started to feel normal again and her routines came back to her as if she’d never left.

While in full-term, Morrigan’s workdays flew by. She lectured, held office hours and submitted her reports regarding Eros on time. Her students were happy to have her back and, if she was honest with herself, she was happy to be back too. The normal pace of her day to day helped calm the worry that had invaded her mind from the lapse in her medication. After a few days, the stress from the episode melted away. Everything was back to normal. 

Except… there were moments when she felt like she was being watched. Walking to the train station had her checking over her shoulder for someone following her. Morrigan felt eyes on her as she would enter her home. She would find herself feeling self-conscious on morning runs. Morrigan nearly pulled her weapon on a poor man who asked her for directions on her way home. 

Everything appeared to be right in her world except that everything felt off. Like someone had shifted everything she had just an inch or two to the left. It seemed to be in the right place but it was just… wrong.

Two weeks passed with Morrigan bouncing between feelings of panic and feeling like everything had settled. She was walking up the stairs in front of her building at work when she felt the eyes on her again. She spun, ready and certain she would see who was spying on her. Her eyes frantically searched behind her, her hand clenching white on her handbag.

“Dr. Healy?” 

Morrigan turned slowly to the voice that called out behind her. 

_‘This is it,’_ she thought, her body ready to fight the foe that had been relentlessly stalking her for weeks. 

“Oh my god, Director Fury!” Morrigan gasped, placing a hand over her heart. She had been so sure that this was it. 

“How can I be of assistance, sir? This isn’t your usual office,” Morrigan worked on regaining her composure and tried smiling at the director. The director didn’t share her joking and Morrigan was greeted with a leveled expression. 

“Rumor has it you were a valuable asset with our mutual out of town guest,” The director crossed his arms, looking down at her with an intense look, “Any new freelance clients come your way from our friend?”

Morrigan knitted her brows. Something was going on and she didn’t like the feeling she was getting. 

“Sir, I’m afraid I’m missing something here. I don’t have ‘freelance’ clients, I support my community as part of my outreach program with the Academy. All interactions are approved by Shield,” 

Fury’s expression didn’t change, he clearly suspected her of something. Morrigan shifted her hold on her bag, uncomfortable with the intensity the director was giving her.

“Has something happened sir?” Morrigan asked, tentatively trying to gain some level of even footing with a man who was far and above her superior. 

“I’m going to need you to come with me Doctor,” and in an instant, he was gone.

Fury didn’t wait to see if Morrigan would follow. He turned on his heel and walked right into the building behind him. Morrigan followed in a half run to catch up. Thanks to her long legs it didn’t take long for her to catch up with him.

She thought about trying to break the tension with a joke, or a question. Morrigan stole a glance at the director and his stony expression on his face caused the words to die on her lips, silence seemed to be her only option.

After following Fury for a few minutes Morrigan realized they were walking to the airstrip. When the pair stepped outside there was a Quinjet already warmed up and ready to take off. 

‘Looks like another trip for me,’ Morrigan thought as she continued to follow the director into the aircraft. Morrigan noticed that there were far fewer people on this Quinjet then when she’d left with Agent Coulson.

“Sit,” Director Fury instructed. Morrigan shoved her bag under the flight seat and buckled up.

The pair flew for hours. Morrigan had no idea what was happening or why she was being whisked away again. The director didn’t feel the need to fill the silence either. Morrigan could tell something was happening. Fury played it off cool but something had him rattled.

After what felt like an eternity later the Quinjet touched down. After getting a nod of approval Morrigan undid her buckles and grabbed her few things. She fell in step with the director again as he left the aircraft.

Morrigan anticipated being brought to one of the other Shield buildings or at the very least a military compound. Throughout her career at Shield she never rocked the boat, but from the director’s behavior, it was clear that she was in some sort of trouble. She didn’t know how Shield took care of problematic agents. With all of her anxiety, she expected to be met with military police. Whatever was happening was a big deal if Director Fury himself escorted her here... Wherever here was.

What she did not expect was to see was a sleek compound in the middle of a forest. The sun was up and the light reflecting off the building made it feel like it was glittering. The sleek lines gave the building a modern and expensive feeling. Together the two walked up to the building. Fury held the door open as Morrigan continued to try and take in as much of the building as possible. Her head up and looking all around. In her study of the building, she drifted into the main room before running into a wall. Or at least, what she thought was a wall.

“Easy now,” a man grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

“Holy shit Captain America!” Morrigan quickly covered her mouth with her free hand, mortified at her reaction. Never in her life did she expect to be standing in front of the living legend himself. His hands were on her shoulders, keeping her from tripping over herself further.

“Language!” A voice from behind the Captain called out. 

Morrigan felt her neck twinge in protest with how quickly she strained it to see who had spoken behind Captain America. Her neck injury was justified when she saw Tony Stark walking into the main lobby from one of the adjoining rooms. If he hand wasn’t already over her mouth Morrigan was sure she would have said something to further confirm that she was an idiot.

“I’m sure you know who these two are?” Director Fury asked from behind her.

“Yes, sir, I do. It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Morrigan stuck out her hand to the Captain first. She had to fight the urge to stare at him. Morrigan had seen posters and watched all of the video training from the attack on New York however all of these paled in comparison to the real man. Fury spoke again as Morrigan was shaking Tony’s hand. 

“So I don’t need to tell you that if they’re involved this is serious,” 

“I hope I have enough sense to see that. What’s happening?” Morrigan’s mind was running a mile a minute. Why would they need her? They were the Avengers and she was just a translator, she didn’t fight in wars or battles.

“Well, we were hoping you could tell us. If you could follow us this way,” Captain America gestured further into the building. He and Ironman led the way with Morrigan and Director Fury steps behind them.

“We heard about your experience with Eros Dr. Healy. From what we’ve been told you handled everything well and he’s integrating into Earth with the help of the Agent’s he’s working with,” Captain continued as they walked. 

“I was pulled from that assignment, if you want my debrief I turned that in weeks ago,” Morrigan stuttered. She still was trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was with the Avengers. 

“Oh, we know that this isn’t about him though,” Tony interjected, looking at Morrigan over his shoulder. “Got any other space friends you want to tell us about?”

“You keep asking that and I don’t understand what you’re asking of me,” Morrigan felt like she was only getting half of the story, that they were actually investigating her. That they didn’t need her at all. 

They reached a door deep within the complex. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. The two Avengers stood in front of it while Tony entered a passcode, unlocking the door. Steve pulled the door open and held it for Morrigan to enter.

_'Something is in there.'_ Morrigan clasped her hands in front of her to hide her shaking. She did not want to go in there. As if he could read her thoughts, Steve caught her eye and gave her a smile and a tiny nod. Morrigan held her breath, gave a nod back and entered the room.

It was a very, very plain office. A desk with a computer was in front of her, as well as enough chairs for everyone to sit. Besides a large TV was on the wall to the left the room was bare of any decorations. 

Tony had already entered the room and was leaning against the desk, his arms crossed in front of him. He oozed the energy of the billionaire playboy he was. He reminded Morrigan of her sister Evie, always the cool one, the one with the funny lines and the one who would save the day when necessary. 

“So Doctor, you sure you don’t have any new friends you want to tell us about?” Tony drawled as Morrigan took her seat.

“I mean no disrespect, sir.” Morrigan looked at the director with a leveled expression. “Is this an interrogation? Because I really have no idea what you’re talking about,”

“Tell her Tony,” Captain Rogers had taken post near the TV. He and Tony exchanged a quick glance before Tony continued.

“The Avengers got a tip that there might be a scouting party from some unfriendlies. Black Widow confirmed that there were strange reports in the area. Took the kids out and found a new friend,” He paused, looking at Steve again who looked at the ground and nodded. 

“We found her easy enough, don’t think she was hiding at all. In fact, Bruce is sure she wanted to be found. We took her here and all she’s said, in the entire two days in her interrogation room, is that she wants to talk to you.”

“Me?”

“Yep. ‘I will speak with Morrigan Healy’ are the only six words she’s spoken.” Tony used a stereotypical witch voice when repeating the words of the woman they had found. 

“She asked for me? In English?” Morrigan was knocked dumb. How would this woman know her name? She was a nobody. What if she was on the run like Eros? Maybe he had told her about how Morrigan translated for him when he arrived. Thoughts and ideas raced through her mind.

“And that’s why we’re gonna need you to talk to her,” Tony concluded. The continued glances with Steve ladened with worry.

“Okay. Where is she?” 

The three men with her paused. The silence was heavy.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked, hand reaching out instinctively before he pulled it back and held it behind his back. “We wouldn’t ask you to speak with her if we thought this was dangerous.”

“Dangerous? What do you mean dangerous? Eros was fine,” Morrigan asked, confusion knitting her brows.

“Well not everyone can be a handsome devil can they?” Tony nearly whispered at the same time Steve started explaining.

“Dr. Healy, we need you to speak with this woman. We need to find out more about who she is and what she’s doing here,”

“All I can say is that I can try. Where is she?” 

“Right here,” Tony leaned back across the desk and grabbed the remote to turn on the television. Blinking to life the TV showed a small interrogation room similar to Eros’. Morrigan stood to take a closer look at the woman in the feed. She could feel every hair on her neck standing up and resisted the urge to actually snarl in fear. Every alarm bell in her head was ringing.

At the table sat a woman or at least what Morrigan thought was a woman. Morrigan could only guess that she was relatively young but she couldn’t really say. Horns protruded from her temples as her long blue hair fell down her back. She was seated upright, rigid and at complete attention. The only thing Morrigan could focus on were her eyes. The woman seated at the table was looking directly at the camera, almost as if she was staring right through it. Her expression was frigid and filled with contempt. Morrigan could feel the rage and heat in her eyes as she stared back at the screen in front of her. Her eyes _burned_.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I'm alive. Please enjoy! I'll update when I can. Writer's black got me again!

Breathe in for seven seconds, hold for four, out for eight. 

Breathe in for seven seconds, hold for four, out for eight. 

Breathe in for seven seconds, hold for four, out for eight. 

 

Morrigan stood in front of the interrogation room. She focused on her breathing rather than focusing on the woman she could see through the glass. The group had entered the waiting room for the interrogation cell. As if by some magic the woman on the other side of the one-way glass seemed to stare at her. Her eyes following Morrigan as she moved around the room. 

 

Now faced with the reality of entering the room all certainty was lost for Morrigan. She forced her hands to still at her sides as she continued breathing. Every hair on her neck was standing on end and she was glad she missed breakfast that morning with the way her stomach turned.

 

“We’ll be just on the other side if you need us. Are you ready now?” Morrigan felt a hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump a little before turning her head to look at Captain America as he spoke softly to her.

 

His smile was friendly but it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked concerned. Morrigan didn’t want to think about that as she pressed her lips into a thin smile and gave the tiniest nod. 

 

Taking one more breath before entering the decontamination room, Morrigan pulled her back straight and willed herself to walk with more confidence than she had. She pushed the door open and was surrounded by the decontamination cloud. The process finished and she stepped into the interrogation room.

 

“You must be Morrigan Healy,” the woman spoke as soon as she entered. Morrigan schooled her face into a cool, calm and collected mask. She would not be frightened.

 

“Yes, that's me. I am Morrigan Healy.”

 

“Fascinating,” The creature's eyes flashed with curiosity. Morrigan stepped closer to the table.

 

“Would you be alright if I sat and talked with you for a while?” 

 

Morrigan was falling back on her courtesies, hoping that being polite would help her with the alien in front of her. Morrigan pointed to the chair in front of the woman, looking for permission to sit. 

 

The alien looked from Morrigan’s hand to the chair and then directly into Morrigan’s eyes. A wide grin split her face as she nodded slightly. Morrigan sat and tried her best to appear calm, leaning back into the seat. She hoped that the alien woman would follow her body language. The hope was in vain as the woman continued to sit straight up at attention.

 

“I’m not one to try to beat around the bush, so, can you tell me why you’re here?” Morrigan decided to jump in feet first. Unlike Eros, this woman didn’t seem like someone to try and lure into talking. Either she would or she wouldn’t. To Morrigan’s surprise, she answered her right away.

 

“Oh, I’m here for you. I needed to see you and now I have.” Her voice was clipped and economical like every word cost something to say. Morrigan couldn’t put her finger on what but something in this woman intrigued her as much as it frightened her. 

 

“Well, here I am. What do you need to speak with me about?” Morrigan forced herself to work past the primal urge to keep her body closed off and sat with open body language. With how frank the conversation had been, Morrigan expected the woman to respond immediately. 

 

A few seconds passed. Then a minute. The alien just looked at Morrigan with her red eyes, almost as if she were waiting for Morrigan to understand some secret. Morrigan let more time pass, hoping the silence would make the creature uncomfortable enough to talk. More moments passed and Morrigan decided to try a different tactic.

 

“How did you learn English? You speak it well for not being from around here.”

 

“It’s common enough.”

 

“Oh well, that’s good to know. I don’t have much experience with aliens, which I’m sure you’re aware of. Can you tell me, where are you from?”

 

“From a long-dead planet that isn’t worth remembering,” The woman looked away from Morrigan for the first time in the conversation. Her whole head turned away.

 

_‘There! Like Eros!’_ Morrigan thought. This was where she would need to dig in.

 

“So are you running from something?”

 

The woman across from her froze.

 

“Or is it someone?” 

 

The alien slowly turned her head back to Morrigan. Morrigan knew she was close to some part of the truth. This alien must be another refugee, like Eros. Morrigan could already feel herself getting ready to invest in this woman and making sure she was safe. The alien across from her finished the calculated turn of her head and made eye contact again. 

 

Her whole face was split into a smile that rooted Morrigan to the spot. This woman wasn’t running from anything and seemed amused that Morrigan would even suggest it. Her eyes glittered with laughter at a joke Morrigan didn’t know. Her silent laughter caused waves of frustration to break over Morrigan. 

 

“If your whole goal in coming to our planet was to speak with me you aren’t saying much.” Morrigan barked, eyes narrowing under her furrowed brow and her hands turning to fists in her lap. She did not like to be played with. 

 

“The moment you entered the room my mission was completed. I’m just awaiting orders now.”

 

“And who gives you those orders?”

 

“You’ll meet everyone soon enough, little Akari.”

 

“What?” Morrigan felt all of the blood drain out of her face and her brain stopped functioning.

 

_She called me Akari._

 

The realization of the statement shattered all pretense and laid Morrigan bare in front of this monster. The smile radiating from the woman wasn’t kind, it was filled with gleeful malice that Morrigan had only seen once before. It looked just like the few images Shield had of Loki when he attacked New York.

 

_Run, leave. **NOW**! _

 

Morrigan could hear her body telling her to move but all she could do was stare at this alien with vacant eyes. Her ears ringing, her body froze in place.

 

“Hey! Hey! Hello in there? Get out of there, we’ve heard enough!”

 

With a dawning realization that she wasn’t just hearing static Morrigan started to comprehend that someone was actually speaking in her earpiece. More accurately it was Ironman yelling at her to get out. 

 

With no ceremony or grace, Morrigan stood, spun on her heel and fled the room. She threw open the door and flung herself inside. Slamming the door shut behind her Morrigan leaned against the wall as the decontamination started. 

 

_She called me Akari._

 

Morrigan stared at the wall in front of her. Her mind blank, her body numb. Morrigan began to register that the air was getting thick. She needed to get out of the chamber, she needed to get out right now. Morrigan hurled herself against the door leading to the waiting room. She slammed her palm on it, once, twice, three times. 

 

_She called me Akari._

 

“Please let me out!” Morrigan called through the door. Hadn’t the decontamination process gone on long enough? It had never been this long before. She slammed her hand against the door a fourth time. 

 

“I’m ready to get out! Let me out, let me out, let me **OUT**!” Morrigan felt her hand pounding the door. Her voice shredding her throat as her pleas grew into screams.

 

_**SHE CALLED ME AKARI!** _

 

Both of her hands were now slamming on the door. The air was like soup filling her lungs. Every breath was painful. Morrigan's beatings on the door slowed and she felt her legs give out under her. Waves of sensation flew up and down her arms causing every hair on her body to stand on end. They were going to leave her in here. Something must have come to light in the interrogation to cause them to cut their losses. 

 

_She called me Akari._

 

Sobs ripped out of her mouth as oxygen started to run low. Morrigan's vision tunneled as she slumped against the door. Feebly she shoved herself against it, using the last of her energy to push against the unfeeling door.

 

Air rushed in to greet her as the door opened into the room. Morrigan collapsed onto all fours coughing out the air from the decontamination room. She could feel every atom in her body vibrating. Morrigan could tell there was something wrong. She could hear the commotion above her, around her, inside her. There was too much noise, too much feeling happening, too much air. 

 

She could feel the magic rippling out from her. Short gasping breaths were doing nothing to stop it. Her sobs turned to heaves and Morrigan flung her arm out towards the trash bin which hurled across the room into her hand. Tears streamed down her face as her body convulsed with the pent up energy inside her. She could feel everyone too intensely, they were too close. Morrigan could feel a hand on her wrist, a hand on her back and another on her shoulder. 

 

“Please don’t touch me,” she whimpered. No one seemed to hear or care. The feelings of too much didn’t stop, the noise didn’t stop, the touching didn’t stop.

 

“I said don’t **TOUCH ME.** ” 

 

The energy that had been wound up, ricocheted off of Morrigan and slammed into everyone around her. The hands that were on her were suddenly gone. The voices and noise were silent. Morrigan felt stable again, if only for a moment. She fell back, sat on the ground and pulled her knees to her chest, tucking her head against her knees.

 

She lost control of her magic. Another crushing realization swept over her. While unintentional, it happened consciously. Everything she has done to protect her family was ruined. The silence continued to press in on her. Where once was a cacophony of sounds there now was oppressive quiet.

 

“I’m sorry, oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Morrigan whispered. Tears began spilling out of her eyes.

 

“Hey now, it’s okay. We’re okay, you’re okay,” Morrigan heard Captain America call out softly.

 

She heard someone step towards her and kneel down to her level.

 

“You’re okay now, alright?” he said again

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” Morrigan shook her head and looked up at him. 

 

“Oh my God, what happened to your eyes? They’re completely bloodshot.”

 

Morrigan blinked. She didn’t feel any discomfort. The look on Captain’s face was etched with concern. He was already moving to pick her up before Morrigan had a chance to say she was fine. 

 

“Come on kid, let’s get you looked at.”

 

Morrigan began to sputter out a protest at the close contact but was silenced when her vision tunneled at the sudden movement. Instead of pushing away like her mind wanted her to do Morrigan felt her body curl into his chest as she was carried out of the room. 

 

Exhaustion settled in while they walked to the infirmary. She felt her mind slip in an out of focus. The whole while she continued to whisper apologies as tears poured from her eyes. The pitiful voice coming from here was one that she hardly recognized. Steve hushed her and told her not to speak and eventually, Morrigan was left with just her tears in the haze. 

* * *

Morrigan awoke in a hospital bed. She was on top of the sheets and there was an IV in her arm. Her head was splitting and her stomach turned like the worst hangover possible. She blinked heavily a few times and looked around the room with a feeling of lag in her vision.

 

In front of her, she saw Captain America speaking to an Asian woman who was a doctor of some sort. Morrigan must have made a noise because they both looked up at her at the same time. 

 

The doctor was at her side in an instant. Her hand delicately placed on Morrigan’s wrist while she checked her pulse. 

 

“I’m Doctor Cho, you’re lucky I was here anyway. For a group that fights the bad guys constantly, they don’t actually have a live-in doctor.”

 

Once she’d gotten the read on Morrigan’s pulse she moved to her eyes. Opening them wide and shining a light in them.

 

“Good news is it looks like you just had a panic attack that made you hyperventilate and pass out. Look to the left. Shockingly your eyes are just fine now. I don’t see any remnants of the hemorrhaging. Let the IV finish and I’ll take it out. How do you feel?”

 

“I’m… okay. I feel like I just woke up from an all-night bender.” 

 

Doctor Cho nodded before asking, “Was that the first time you experienced a power surge like that? Captain told me what happened after your interrogation session.”

 

Morrigan turned away, shame filling her. She mashed her lips in a hard line, brow furrowing. She couldn’t believe that she lost control to that extreme. She was foolish, undisciplined and now her poor judgment was coming back to haunt her. 

 

“No. This hasn’t happened before,” Morrigan forced out. Unbidden tears of rage leaked out from her eyes. Morrigan aggressively swiped them away. Captain stepped forward at that moment and laid his hand on Morrigan’s shoulder. 

 

“You’re under a lot of stress and we asked a lot from you. You might be a Shield agent but, with respect, you’re a civilian. It’s okay to need a moment.”

 

“I’m okay,” Morrigan mumbled, the palm of her hand rubbing away the last of the tears. She was so angry with herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had just had a slip-up and now she showcased her magic for the Avengers to see. This wasn’t going to be swept under the rug.

 

Doctor Cho wrote down all of Morrigan's vitals on a chart that she left on the desk. She gave Morrigan a pat on her leg before showing herself out of the room.

 

Steve gave her shoulder another squeeze before pulling up a chair to sit next to her bedside. He leaned his elbows down on his knees, his hands pressed together as if in prayer. The tips of his fingers rested just under his mouth and his face rested into a look of deep contemplation. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back and tried to relax his posture. His fingers skimmed his lips a few times before he decided to speak.

 

“Is it okay if I ask you a few questions, Morrigan?” He looked at Morrigan for approval and with the nod of her head he continued, “Did you know you had powers before today?”

 

“Yes,” Morrigan barely whispered. She knew better than to lie to Captain America.

 

“Do you normally use magic?”

 

“No.”

 

“Wanna tell me what happened back there?”

 

Morrigan took a big breath before starting, her eyes blank as she stared at her hands in her lap. No, she didn’t want to tell him, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

 

“It was magic not 'powers'. I can manipulate my environment, kinda like Scarlet Witch but it’s not the same. To be honest, I don’t know much about it,” Morrigan laughed at herself darkly, “I haven't used my powers at all in well over 15 years. I lost complete control today, something that never should have happened.”

 

Steve nodded, his hand covering his mouth. Silence enveloped the pair, neither one making any move to release the tension that was building up. 

 

“I have one more question if you’ll let me, and then you can rest more. Deal?” Steve asked, his face open, honest, curious. Morrigan could tell he meant it and nodded again giving him room to ask.

 

“What does Akari mean? The alien said it and you looked like you had shell shock. You kept saying it too as I brought you here.”

 

Morrigan froze. Her hands had been idly playing with the sheets during Steve’s questioning. A small dose of adrenaline from earlier flickered to life again in her veins. Her thoughts swirled and turned into mayhem in her mind. Her hands clenched the sheet in front of her. She was so sick of crying but couldn’t help the unbidden tears that leaked out. She had no energy to wipe them away as they fell silently to her lap. 

 

She had failed them. Her grandmother, her family, her people. All of them were now at risk and it was all her fault. The magic she used would have alerted anyone looking for that brand of magic’s signature in an instant. She’d just alerted the universe to the hiding place of the Akari, a secret that had lived for over a thousand years, and Morrigan destroyed it in five minutes due to her complete lack of ability to just be _normal_.

 

Morrigan released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Closing her eyes she willed herself to relax. She needed to handle this one situation at a time. Looking up from her lap she looked at Captain America in the eyes for the first time since she woke up. 

 

“That’s not something I can tell you,” It was a simple statement. There was no venom in her words and from what Steve could tell Morrigan had wanted to but simply couldn’t. Before either of them could speak further the door to the infirmary nearly slammed opened.

 

Black Widow only leaned halfway in the door. The intensity in her face and body language rolled off of her and into the room. Morrigan immediately went on alert. Something was wrong.

 

“We’ve got a situation Cap,” Black Widow said, “The alien is gone. No one knows how she got out, or where she is. All security footage is blank. She’s just gone.”

 

Steve stood, already poised to leap into action when Black Widow continued.

 

“That’s not all. According to our perimeter alerts, we also have all sorts of guests. A group of eight people suddenly appeared RIGHT outside our defense line at the exact same moment a giant spaceship pinged on the outskirts of the solar system.”


End file.
